The Raven Collection

‘A return to death would be preferable to what he has now,’ said Ilkar.

‘I tend to agree,’ said Laryon. ‘Denser? We must prepare. But first we must assess the situation with our friend Nyer. Denser, if you would contact your Familiar?’

Denser nodded and closed his eyes.

The cat shifted suddenly in Hirad’s lap, waking him from his doze. He sat up in his chair and looked out of the window. It was late afternoon and the sun was losing some of its strength, allowing a breeze to cool the fields. Hirad could see one of the farm hands working a plough away in the distance, and closer to home, the sounds of work echoed to him from the barns and outbuildings.

He glanced back at the cat, starting as he met the eyes of the demon.

‘Don’t do that!’ snapped Hirad. The Familiar smiled and chuckled, a hollow rattling that had nothing to do with humour. ‘What is it?’

‘They are coming. We must be ready to leave here.’

‘Denser?’

The Familiar shook its head. ‘Those who would have Dawnthief. We must be ready.’

Stylia

‘The unfortunate events—’ Vuldaroq snorted. Stylia

‘You didn’t trust us?’ asked Heryst, no malice in his tone.

‘I felt that certain likely reactions at too early a stage would have jeopardised Balaia,’ said Stylia

‘And you expect me to accept that your rape of my crypt was therefore justified?’ The voice was quiet but brimming with poison. Stylia

‘The answer to your question has to be yes, but permit me to qualify that answer. Under any circumstances other than these, there is no doubt our action would have been different.

‘It is also true that before we authorised the action we took, lengthy consideration was made of the potential ramifications as we saw them. The ma

‘It is also true that we believed that informing you of the impact of our actions would have been unwise and divisive.’

Vuldaroq nodded slowly, his face red, his jaw set. He leaned back in his chair, one of its wings hiding his face.

‘Lengthy consideration,’ he said. ‘Deep regret.’ He brought his face back into the light. ‘One of my mages died.’ He let the word hang in the air above the table.

‘Hmm.’ Stylia

‘Because he tried to stop the rape of our crypts.’

‘Is that what he was doing? My understanding is a little different. Perhaps you would like to explain to the meeting how kidnapping and imprisoning a Familiar as bait for its master’s trap was supposed to help him achieve this?’

‘I am not some child caught doing wrong,’ snapped Vuldaroq. ‘Do not treat me as such. Our mage was murdered by your bastard Familiar, let us not forget that.’

‘Very well. I am prepared to concede that this was the end result. But I think we owe Barras and Heryst a complete view of the events leading to the unfortunate circumstance. I would hate them to feel they could not continue to lend their support to the alliance because of a misunderstanding.’

‘What is there to misunderstand?’ Vuldaroq was dismissive. ‘It is hard to misunderstand murder.’

Stylia

‘What I fear,’ said Stylia

‘It was still in the City,’ growled Vuldaroq.

‘Is that a crime?’ countered Stylia

‘It was part of a—’

‘Is that a crime?’ repeated Stylia

Vuldaroq’s scowl deepened. ‘No. It is not.’

‘Thank you for that clarification. I would also be unhappy unless I told our colleagues that the Familiar was merely an observer, that Denser was placed in woodland some distance from Dordover and that he would never have entered the city but for the kidnap of his Familiar.

‘Now I do not expect anyone to condone our theft, but I do expect everyone to understand its necessity and respect that we pla

There was a furious scribbling of notes all around the table. The delegates huddled and whispered while Stylia

‘Do you disagree with Stylia

‘The Familiar was removed from outside the College walls,’ conceded Vuldaroq. ‘But don’t forget that at this time, our grounds had been penetrated by two unauthorised individuals.’

‘I’m afraid your timings might be slightly awry.’ Stylia

‘While they plotted an illegal entrance.’

‘Their actions are not disputed,’ said Heryst, his gentle voice cutting across the tension. ‘The actions of your College are.’

‘We are the victims here!’ Vuldaroq stood and slammed his fists on the table.

‘In that the ring was taken, yes, you are.’ Heryst shrugged. ‘But you are basing your objection to Xetesk’s actions on the death of a mage. A mage who kidnapped a Familiar from outside the College walls.’ He leaned into the light, a half-smile playing about his lips. ‘The first crime of the evening was committed by Dordover.’

‘Your point being?’ Red-faced, Vuldaroq wiped sweat from his forehead, his shoulders sagging slightly.

‘His point being that we have two separate incidents that you have intertwined. One Stylia

‘Inevitable? When can murder ever be inevitable?’

‘Enough!’ Stylia

‘Now. Two incidents, as Barras correctly deduced. We are talking about the theft. I have explained why it was carried out and why we were secretive. Vuldaroq has since demonstrated to me that our secrecy was entirely justified. We are facing catastrophe if we don’t work together. I must have your support and you must believe, as I do, that Dawnthief is our only realistic chance of success.’

‘I agree with you,’ said Barras. ‘But I, personally, am insulted that you kept such information from me.’